


Softly and Tenderly We Tread

by IgnitingNeon



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M, Post 7x13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23836285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IgnitingNeon/pseuds/IgnitingNeon
Summary: The first day Mac is brought home is all ginger and tentative movements, soft voices and quiet steps. Newborns are so fragile, and they are still in awe of their son.
Relationships: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54





	Softly and Tenderly We Tread

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick little drabble that was written within an hour or so. Hope you enjoy!

The first day Mac is brought home is all ginger and tentative movements, soft voices and quiet steps. Newborns are so fragile, and they are still in awe of their son.

Mac had fallen asleep in his car seat on the ride home, snuffling only a little when the car door was shut behind him. With a simple glance between Jake and Amy, it was decided that they wouldn’t have the heart to move him until it was time to feed or change him.

So he was set upon the coffee table in front of his parents, where they sat and simply watched his breath rise and fall.

#

Mac is an incredibly good baby that first day, without a single crying tantrum that couldn’t be soothed quickly. It’s credit to Amy’s preliminary set of alarms and reminders that they’ve only missed two feedings and changings. But the sharp cries, however brief, still feel heartbreaking and a lot like failure.

With Mac warm against her chest, she murmurs quietly to Jake how they’ll adapt her alarms to Mac’s schedule as the days go on and they know him better. Jake sits with a pencil and scribbles down their observations as Amy tells and Jake adds.

“3:15, he made this scrunchy face like _this_ —before he pooped.”

“11:40, got hungry. Alarm’s an hour off.”

#

It’s hard when night comes, and they both feel so terribly tired but not yet willing to sleep. The crib is in their bedroom, but still, there’s this irrational worry that they’ll both sleep through an alarm and be woken up by Mac’s cries, or if they take their eyes off him for a second, something will happen to him and they won’t notice until it’s too late.

They lie in bed with Mac between them for a while.

“I think we did really good today, Ames,” Jake says softly. He reaches out and strokes Mac’s cheek with the lightness of a feather.

“Go team,” Amy replies, and her heart is so full. This is her family.

Jake’s eyes are beginning to droop, losing the fight against sleep, and Mac’s are doing the same. Charles was right. They do have the same face.

Amy carefully sits up and takes Mac over to his crib, humming a lullaby beneath her breath. She kisses his forehead before putting him down gently. He makes a little noise before he settles.

“Sweet dreams, my love,” she whispers.

Amy checks the alarms on her phone again, making sure the volume is loud enough and that the charger hasn't broken. She turns and sees Jake doing the same for his phone and love wells up through her. They will be okay, all three of them.

Then Amy and Jake are both getting under the covers, tired and so unbelievably happy in the dim light of a single lamp. Their hands find each other and link together loosely. They did really good today, and they’ll do it again tomorrow.


End file.
